BangShift Race Report: Revitalized IHRA Nitro Jam Roars To Life In Tucson, Arizona – Results, Photos, Inside Scoop HERE!


BangShift Race Report: Revitalized IHRA Nitro Jam Roars To Life In Tucson, Arizona – Results, Photos, Inside Scoop HERE!

(Words by Darr Hawthorne and IHRA PR Photos by Bob Snyder and Darr Hawthorne) -I can’t remember the last time I attended an event under the sanction of the International Hot Rod Association, it must have been back when Texas Motorplex owner Billy Meyer held the IHRA. While there are many alternative- sanctioning bodies out there competing, the IHRA is back, and back with aggressive new leadership.

Tucson Sunset-DH

The opening event of the 2014 IHRA Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series launched with the IHRA Southwestern Nationals at Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson Arizona last weekend, presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports. It also provided an opportunity for IHRA’s new “single winner” format to work out the bugs in what was a very competitive event with a great cross section of nitroracecars and a handful of strong mountain-motored pro stockers.

Clay Roland and Jason-DH

While there, I also had the opportunity to talk at length with CEO Jason Rittenberry at the Tucson season opener who said of the new IHRA effort, “This year, our primary goal is to make IHRA drag racing relevant in the drag racing world again. We are looking at every aspect of what we do here and ways to improve the experience for our racers and spectators.” Rittenberry (right) is a hands-on CEO who spent much of his time talking with participants like MAV TV host Clay Millican and Crew Chief Roland Leong.

Gardner Maher-DH

Also working both the pits and the starting line was Scott Gardner, longtime Cordova Dragway Park operator and now President of the IHRA. Gardner’s charge at this event was to see the positives, the issues and the ways to improve the show, as he flashed a pocket notebook filled with hand written notes. He also spent time with sponsors like Jim Maher at Good Vibrations.

Crowd-DH

The structure of the newly renovated and improved IHRA format is spent on a pair of Friday qualifying sessions with Saturday evening eliminations and, at Tucson, excited fans and packed grandstands.

Rupert Pits-DH

After the two rounds of qualifying, three-time NHRA Heritage nitro funny car champ Jason Rupert led the way, taking the top spot in Nitro Funny Car with an ever improving 5.898-second ET at 245.00 miles per hour.

Boychuk-DH

A resurgent Tim Boychuk, this year with legendary Roland Leong as Crew Chief was close behind Rupert with his 5.932 ET at 241.76 mph and Texan John Hale sitting third with a 5.946 ET at 242.41 mph pass in the second round.

Litton Q-BS

Former top fuel champion Bruce Litton debuted his beautiful new “U.S. Male” Vega in fourth with a 6.039 at 237.34 mph, his first runs in a nitro funny car in over 20 years.

Krabill Q-BS

Kris Krabill grabbed the fifth position with his 6.114 ET at 226.62 mph, followed by Mr. Explosive Mark Sanders’ 6.146 ET at 210.01 in sixth, rookie Mike McIntire Jr. was seventh at 6.433 and veteran Roger Garten rounded out the eight-car field with a 6.851.

Ronny Young Q-BS

Ronny Young, in the Blue Max Plymouth Arrow funny car and Mike Halstead missed the cut.

Mike Scott-DH

There was an amazing collection of Nitro Harleys in competition at Tucson as well with Mike Scott leading the qualifiers with a killer 6.353 ET at 221.49 mph, followed by Jay Turner’s 6.399/230.88 and Randal Andras at 6.415/224.10 in third. Steve Dorn sat in fourth with a 6.648/212.23 on two wheels with a total of eight TF Harleys in competition.

Hough Q-BS

The wild fuel altered contingent was led by Kyle Hough taking the pole in the legendary “Nanook” Nitro Altered running a 6.796 at 187.11 mph followed by Arizona’s Jim Maroney 7.445 sitting second.

Cary Goforth-DH

With cold track temperatures, Friday’s late night qualifier for Mountain Motor Pro Stock was moved to Saturday afternoon.

Saturday Eliminations

Garten-BS

In nitro funny car number one qualifier Jason Rupert met Roger Garten in his “War Horse” Mustang, but Garten’s -.075 off the starting line let Rupert off the hook. Rupert slowed to an early shut-off 6.640. In the second match, Bruce Litton’s 5.917/242.98 defeated Kris Krabill as he moved in and out of the grove to a 6.364 ET. Tim Boychuk led Mike McIntire Jr. from the green light with a 6.097 to the Mac Attack’s 7.596.

Hale Sanders-DH

In an extremely close race Mark Sanders’ 5.911 narrowly beat John Hale 5.919 on a holeshot. In the semi’s Jason Rupert’s 5.922/241.67 won over Bruce Litton’s 6.093/215.37 and in one of the closest matches of the evening Mark Sanders 5.883/241.50 took out Tim Boychuk who ran a 5.981/241.50.

FC Final - BS

Rupert kept his “Bays & Rupert” Camaro (near lane) in the five-second range throughout the weekend, saving his best stuff for last. In the final Sanders had the starting line advantage, but Rupert’s 5.853/247.75 was way too much for Sanders’ early shut off 6.269.

Rupert-Bynam-Littlefield-DH

“This win really means a lot to me. We have won three championships and a ton of races and to win this race, the first with the new IHRA deal, is pretty prestigious to me,” Rupert said. “We have some of the best people and some of the best cars in the country in this category here this weekend and to win against that lineup is just an awesome deal.”

FC Final- DH

“We have worked for years to reach this point, to be recognized as a premier class in these cars,” Rupert said. “In front of this great crowd, to come out and take the win was amazing. I want to thank my awesome crew, my sponsors, all of which help me do what I do. What a great start to the 2014 season.”

Nitro Harley final-BS

Mike Scott (near lane) dominated the Nitro Harley class with an incredible sequence of runs unheard in the class known for its wild and unpredictable quarter mile passes. Scott had laps of 6.351, 6.361 and 6.387 on his way to picking up the Ironman in another class restructured by IHRA for the 2014 season.

Mike Scott BO-DH

Scott never let up on his grip of the field, topping the charts on Friday before eliminating Steve Heidner, Ron Gledhill and class-favorite Jay Turner. In the final Scott had another tremendous 6.387, 224.47, while Turner had to shut it off early near halftrack.

Nitro Altereds

Fuel ALtered Final-BS

Wrapping up the nitro categories was Nitro Altered as Arizona resident Mike Hilsabeck in the “Arizona Thunder” (far lane) took the win over Jim Maroney. The fuel altereds faced a particularly large amount of carnage over the two-day race weekend with a few smacks of the wall and a bunch of mid-track timing blocks punted and destroyed. No, those aren’t whitewalls, the awesome “Rat Trap” fuel altered left the starting line in the right lane, but crossed over and bounced off the left guard wall. Here’s a video of the lane swap from Val Valdez.

Rat Trap whitewalls-DH

But at the end of the day, it was Hilsabeck left standing in the SIR Winners Circle, besting Maroney in the final with a 6.966, 169.49 pass to Maroney’s 7.968, 122.20.

 

Mountain Motored Pro Stock

PS Mtn Motor-BS Final

Mountain Motor Pro Stock highlighted IHRA’s other major attraction over the weekend as the powerful cars returned to the IHRA quarter-mile for the first time in four years. Cary Goforth, from Holdenville, Okla., took the win in an all-Goforth Racing final against teammate Todd Hoerner.

Filling in for regular driver Dean Goforth, Hoerner and Goforth topped the qualifying charts and proved the class of the field throughout the weekend. However the celebration was cut short in the final as Hoerner got out of the groove and leapt across the track, smacking the wall in handing Goforth the win. Goforth had a 6.382, 219.12 in the final. “Well, this is all a little bittersweet for us tonight. It is a great moment, it obviously means a lot to us to have both cars in the finals, but we obviously had a few issues that puts a little bit of a damper on the situation,” Goforth said.

Todd Hoerner-DH

Goforth qualified second in the seven-car field, just a few tenths behind teammate Hoerner (shown). He also had little trouble in his path to the final, besting Brad Waddle and Pete Berner with bracket-like numbers of 6.411, 6.376 and 6.383. His run in the final kept him ahead of Hoerner who put the brand new 2013 Dean’s Casing Camaro Pro Stock out of the narrow groove and into the wall in the opposite lane. Jet Dragster

Jets-DH

In the final competitive class of the weekend Marisha Falk drove her Embry-Riddle jet dragster to a win over team owner Elaine Larsen in the inaugural Jet Dragster competition. Next up for the IHRA Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series North American Tour is a trip to San Antonio Raceway for the San Antonio Nationals March 28-29 and watch for the series on MAV TV coming this fall.

The ticket prices are reasonable and the racing is stout. While I’d like to see this new format evolve into a totally open qualified show, the core group of nitro funny car racers is among some of the best in the class

FINAL RESULTS

Final results from the 2014 IHRA Southwestern Nitro Jam Nationals presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports at Southwestern International Raceway.

Nitro Funny CarJason Rupert, Yorba Linda, Calif., ’69 Camaro, 5.853, 247.75 def. Mark Sanders, Mark Valley, Wash., ’70 Mustang, 6.269, 188.81

Pro Stock – Cary Goforth, Holdenville, Okla., ’13 Camaro, 6.382, 219.12 def. Todd Hoerner, Forest, Va., ’13 Camaro, foul

Nitro Harley – Mike Scott, Blind Bay, B.C., 6.387, 224.47 def. Jay Turner, Julian, N.C., 9.626, 97.66.

Nitro Altered – Mike Hilsabeck, Phoenix, Ariz., ’23 Ford T, 6.966, 169.49 def. Jim Maroney, Gilbert, Ariz., ’23 T, 7.968, 122.20


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3 thoughts on “BangShift Race Report: Revitalized IHRA Nitro Jam Roars To Life In Tucson, Arizona – Results, Photos, Inside Scoop HERE!

  1. angryjoe

    The kids and I attend the Tucson event darn near every year. As usual we had a great time. There were some butt puckering moments during the Alterds races. Glad nothing was to awful bad. I would love to see a deeper field of the Nitro Harleys and Funnycars. I apprecaite the local racers as much as anyone but if I drop 80 bones on tickets I dont want to see such a deep field of the same guys I see at test and tunes and regular race nights. Also, they really need a water truck to water the parking lot to keep the dust down. But thats just me bing a picky jerk…the event was a blast and I suggest anyone who can to get off the couch and go check it out.

    1. Eric Wall

      Looking forward to Rockingham NC event , hope it’s just as good! My parents started taking us to the Rock around ’69 or ’70 , I got to see many of the greats in the ’70s and early ’80s

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